Your Right to Know

Wearing a pink shirt under her suit jacket that read “GOP get out of my panties,” state Sen.
Nina Turner joined Planned Parenthood officials and other Democrats yesterday to blast a renewed
effort by legislative Republicans to cut off public funding for the women’s health-care
provider.

The House Health and Aging Committee has scheduled a possible vote today on a bill that would
reprioritize how federal family-planning money is distributed in Ohio, putting Planned Parenthood
at the bottom and likely cutting off about $1.7 million it uses for birth control and preventive
health care.

“Politicians who want to end funding for Planned Parenthood don’t seem to know what it is we do
every day,” said Stephanie Knight, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. “(We) work every day
to keep women healthy and to deliver quality care, no matter what.”

Knight said Planned Parenthood provides nearly 100,000 women with health care, and 93 percent of
services are preventive, such as cancer screenings, birth control and prevention of sexually
transmitted diseases. Federal money cannot be used for abortions. “Our work hasn’t changed, but
Ohio politics has,” she said.

Backed by Ohio Right to Life, House Republicans first attempted the funding cutoff in April when
they added it into Gov. John Kasich’s midbiennium review. But it was quickly removed after GOP
leaders said they were unsure of its ramifications, particularly on hospitals.

At the time, GOP leaders and Ohio Right to Life said the issue was likely to return.

“If they’re providing these great health-care services for women, we don’t have a problem with
that,” said Stephanie Krider, director of legislative affairs for Ohio Right to Life. “But they
need to make a choice between providing health care and providing abortions.”

The bill is likely to be amended to include community action agencies in the top tier of the
priority list, and tweak some wording for local health districts, Krider said, so it will expand
the number of eligible entities from the original bill.

“We are trying to send women to other providers that are offering more than what Planned
Parenthood offers,” she said. “It goes beyond just family planning. We’re sending them to clinics
that have physicians on staff.”

Knight questioned whether those other providers have the capacity to handle increased numbers of
women.

“We’re the experts in women’s health care,” she said. “And we’re the provider women choose. Why
are we pulling that choice away from women in Ohio?”

Turner, Knight and others stressed the theme, “Can you hear us now?” referring to the election
results last week that led to President Barack Obama’s re-election and Democratic gains in the U.S.
Senate — some of which were attributed to controversial comments made by GOP Senate candidates
regarding abortion and rape.

Turner, D-Cleveland, said it’s time to end the attack on women.

“I have three words for the GOP: Get a grip,” Turner said. “We are not going back to the dark
ages. We are not going to suppress our voice or our choice. And we are not going to forget.”

Krider said Ohio still has a governor and strong legislative majorities that oppose abortion
rights. “I don’t think this election was by any means a referendum on the pro-life movement.”